Light animation in an appliance

ABSTRACT

An appliance such as a refrigerator includes a housing such as a refrigerator cabinet, a compartment disposed within the refrigerator cabinet or housing, a visual display positioned at an interior of the compartment, a circuit operatively connected to the visual display and configured to operate the visual display in a manner indicative of an environmental system of the refrigerator. The visual display may be a flat panel display and may show an animation.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to appliance such as but not limited to refrigerators, ovens, microwaves, dishwashers, ice makers, washers, and dryers. More particularly, but not exclusively, the present invention relates to an appliance configured to provide displays with light animations within an interior and/or exterior surface or component of the refrigerator.

BACKGROUND OF THE ART

Numerous advancements have been made in refrigerators including with environmental systems within the refrigerators. However, typical users may not be aware of or understand or appreciate such advancements. What is needed are improved refrigerators and related methods and apparatuses which enhance the understanding or perception of environmental systems within the refrigerators or other features.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, it is a primary object, feature, or advantage to improve over the state of the art. It is a further object, feature, or advantage to provide visual displays associated with refrigerators which communicate information regarding operation of appliances such as, but not limited to, refrigerators.

It is a still further object, feature, or advantage to enhance an end user's perceptions of advanced environmental systems or other features of a refrigerator or other appliance.

One or more of these and/or other objects, features, or advantages will become apparent from the description that follows. No single embodiment need exhibit each or every object, feature, or advantage as different embodiments have different objects, features, or advantages.

According to one aspect, a refrigerator is provided. The refrigerator includes a refrigerator cabinet, a compartment disposed within the refrigerator cabinet, a visual display positioned at an interior of the compartment, a circuit operatively connected to the visual display and configured to operate the visual display in a manner indicative of an environmental system of the refrigerator. The compartment may be a refrigerator compartment, a fresh food compartment, or a freezer compartment. The visual display may include a plurality of lights including pixilated displays or array of LEDs. The lights may be multi-color lights and the circuit may be configured to use colors for the multi-color lights based on user selectable and/or default settings. The circuit may further be configured to sequence operation of the plurality of lights to perform an animation. Each of the lights may be an LED.

According to another aspect, a refrigerator is provided which includes a refrigerator cabinet, a compartment disposed within the refrigerator cabinet, a display disposed along a wall of the compartment, and an intelligent control operatively connected to the display and configured to display an animation on the display indicative of a cooling system of the refrigerator. The refrigerator may further include a machine readable storage medium operatively connected to the intelligent control, the animation stored on the machine readable storage medium. The refrigerator may further include user controls operatively connected to the intelligent control and wherein the intelligent control is configured to select settings for the animation based on user input received through the user controls.

According to yet another aspect, a method is provided. The method includes providing a refrigerator including (a) a refrigerator cabinet, (b) a compartment disposed within the refrigerator cabinet, (c) a visual display disposed along a wall of the compartment, (d) a circuit operatively connected to the visual display and configured to operate the visual display to show a representation of operation of an environmental system of the refrigerator. The method further includes displaying using the visual display the representation of the operation of the environmental system of the refrigerator.

According to another aspect, an appliance is provided. The appliance includes a housing or cabinet and a compartment disposed within the housing or cabinet. There is a visual display positioned at an interior of the compartment or on an exterior surface of the housing. There is a circuit operatively connected to the visual display and configured to operate the visual display in a manner indicative of an environmental system of the appliance.

According to another aspect, an appliance is provided which includes an appliance housing, a compartment disposed within the appliance housing, a display disposed along a wall of the compartment, and an intelligent control operatively connected to the display and configured to display an animation on the display indicative of operation of the appliance. The appliance may further include a machine readable storage medium operatively connected to the intelligent control, the animation stored on the machine readable storage medium. The appliance may further include user controls operatively connected to the intelligent control and wherein the intelligent control is configured to select settings for the animation based on user input received through the user controls.

According to another aspect an appliance includes an appliance housing, a compartment disposed within the appliance housing a visual display positioned on a surface of the appliance, and a control circuit operatively connected to the visual display and configured to operate the visual display in a manner indicative of an environmental system of the refrigerator. The surface may be an external surface or an internal surface. The surface may be a handle of the appliance or a grill of the appliance or other surface of the appliance.

According to another aspect, an appliance is provided. The appliance includes a housing, a compartment disposed within the housing, a visual display positioned at an interior of the compartment or on an exterior surface of the housing, and a circuit operatively connected to the visual display and configured to operate the visual display in a manner to provide an animation wherein the animation is indicative of an environmental system of the appliance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating one embodiment of a refrigerator which has a side-by-side configuration.

FIG. 2 illustrates the refrigerator of FIG. 1 with the fresh food compartment door and the freezer door in an open position.

FIG. 3 illustrates an air tower of the refrigerator with an example of a visual display thereon which includes a plurality of different lights.

FIG. 4 illustrates the air tower of the refrigerator with an example of a visual display thereon showing air flow direction.

FIG. 5 illustrates the air tower of the refrigerator with an example of a visual display thereon showing environmental controls such as temperature and humidity.

FIG. 6 illustrates a visual display of the refrigerator of which is configured to visually display air flow.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an electronic control system.

FIG. 8 is another example of a refrigerator with exterior lighting.

FIG. 9 is another example of an appliance.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating one embodiment of a refrigerator 10 which has a side-by-side configuration. As shown in FIG. 1, the refrigerator 10 has a refrigerator cabinet 12. The refrigerator 10 further has a freezer compartment 14 with a freezer door 16 providing access to the freezer compartment 14 and a fresh food or refrigerator compartment 18 with a fresh food or refrigerator compartment door 20 providing access. Although the refrigerator 10 shown is in a side-by-side configuration, it is to be understood that any number of other configurations may be used including refrigerators which have bottom mount freezers and French doors, refrigerators with top mount freezers, refrigerators without freezers, refrigerators with space that can be reconfigured as freezer or fresh food space, and refrigerators where all storage space is freezer space.

FIG. 2 illustrates the refrigerator 10 of FIG. 1 with the freezer door 16 and the fresh food compartment door 20 open. Drawers 24, 26 are shown in the fresh food compartment 18. As shown in FIG. 2, an air tower 28 is present. The air tower 28 provides a covering or housing for air pathways for conveying cold air or returning warmer air. A display 30 is shown attached to the air tower 28. Another display 32 is shown attached to the interior door of the freezer compartment door 16. The displays 30, 32 may be placed in alternative positions within the interior of the refrigerator 10 such as on the interior of the fresh food compartment door, within the freezer compartment or elsewhere within the fresh food compartment. Each of the displays 30, 32, may be an electronic visual display, a flat panel display, a liquid crystal display (LCD), an active-matrix LCD, an electroluminescent display (ELD), a digital light processing display (DLP), a field emission display (FED), an interferometric modulator display (IMPD), an organic LED (OLED), a plasma display, a quantum dot display, a surface-conduction, electron-emitter display, or other type of electronic visual display or pixilated display.

FIG. 3 illustrates an air tower 28 of the refrigerator with an example of a visual display thereon which includes a plurality of different lights. As shown in FIG. 3, the visual display includes a plurality of lights 40A-40J and 42A-42J. Each of the plurality of lights may be a light emitting diode (LED) or may a part of an array of LEDs. Each of the plurality of lights may be a multi-colored LED. Together, the plurality of lights provide a visual display. The plurality of lights may be used to provide simple animations by sequencing the on/off switching of the lights and/or changing the colors of the lights. In the animation shown in FIG. 3, lights 40A-40C are active. By continuing activating lights in the sequence from 40A-40J, a simple animation provides for indicating a direction of motion such as an upward direction of air flow in the air tower 28. Similarly, a downward direction of motion may be represented by activating lights in the opposite order. In addition, one color may be used (such as blue) to indicate a first direction and a second color (such as red) may be used to indicate a second direction. Thus, a plurality of lights may be used to provide an animation or to otherwise form a visual display which may be operated in a manner indicative of operation of a refrigerator.

Where the plurality of lights are used to provide an animation or to otherwise form a visual display, the plurality of lights may present on handles, badges, grills (such as by the floor of the appliance), or elsewhere on the appliance. The plurality of lights may provide for animation, fading, or reacting to customer interaction.

FIG. 4 illustrates the air tower of the refrigerator with an example of a visual display thereon showing air flow direction. In FIG. 4, the air tower has a visual display in the form of arrow 44 and arrow 46. The arrow 44 may be lit such as with an LED to indicate that air is flowing upwardly and the arrow 46 may be lit such as with an LED to indicate that air is flowing downwardly. The arrow 44 and arrow 46 may be lit with different colors of light.

FIG. 5 illustrates the air tower of the refrigerator with an example of a visual display thereon showing environmental controls such as temperature and humidity. In FIG. 5, there is a temperature visual display 50 and a humidity visual display 60. The temperature visual display includes a plurality of lights lit in a manner to visually display temperature and may include LEDs 52, 54, 56 which may be of the same or different colors such as with LED 52 being a darkest blue and LED 56 being a lighter blue or even a red color. The humidity visual display 60 may similarly include a plurality of lights lit in a manner to visually display humidity and may include LEDs 62, 64, 66 which may be of the same or different colors.

FIG. 6 illustrates a visual display of the refrigerator of which is configured to visually display air flow. The visual display 30 may be a display panel and may provide for an animation 70 or otherwise visually display information about the environmental control system of the refrigerator including temperature, humidity, the condition of food or storage items, or other information. For example, air flow may be shown through animating one or more arrows 72 such as is shown in FIG. 6. The visual display may also include brand information 74 or logos.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an electronic control system 80. There is a circuit 82 shown which may include an intelligent control such as a microcontroller or microprocessor. The circuit 82 is operatively connected to a display 30 which may include an LED array, a display or other type of visual display. The circuit 82 is operatively connected to machine readable storage medium 82. One or more animations 88 are stored on the machine readable storage medium 82. User controls 84 are operatively connected to the circuit 82. The user controls 82 allow a user to select different settings. In addition, the circuit 82 may be operatively connected to an environmental control system 90, or the circuit 82 may itself be a part of an environmental control system associated with sensing or sensing and controlling temperature, humidity, or the condition of food or storage items.

FIG. 8 illustrates another example of an appliance in the form of a refrigerator 90 which includes a refrigerator cabinet 92 with a door 94 with a handle 96 which includes a plurality of lights 98 thereon forming a visual display. A grill 98 is also sown which includes a plurality of lights 100. A badge 102 with a logo thereon is also shown which may be lighted. The plurality of lights 98, 100 and badge 102 may be lit in a manner to convey information about operation of the refrigerator or use of the refrigerator to a user. Such information may be conveyed by the color of the lighting, the animation of the lighting, or otherwise. The information conveyed may be in the form of an invitation or request to the user such as by lighting the plurality of lights 98 on the handle 92 in a manner to encourage the user to grab the handle 92 to open the door 96.

In addition to being used within a refrigerator, various other appliances may include a visual display such as those described in the interior of the refrigerator. Examples of such appliances include, without limitation, ovens, microwaves, dishwashers, ice makers, washers, and dryers. These visual displays may also be operated in a manner indicative of an environmental system of the refrigerator such as temperature of a chamber within an oven, whether hot water or cold water is being used during a washer cycle, or to otherwise convey information associated with an environmental system including but not limited to air flow, water flow, heating, cooling, or other operations.

FIG. 9 illustrates a laundry appliance in the form of a washer 110 with a display 112 with an animation thereon. The animation may provide for showing movement of water and temperature of water within an interior chamber 114 of the washer 110.

Therefore an appliance such as a refrigerator and related methods, systems, and apparatus has been described. Numerous variations in the type of appliance, the configuration of the appliance, the type of display used, the position of the display within the appliance, the type of information being visually conveyed using the visual display, the circuitry used to control the display, and other variations. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A refrigerator comprising: a refrigerator cabinet; a compartment disposed within the refrigerator cabinet; a visual display positioned at an interior of the compartment; a circuit operatively connected to the visual display and configured to operate the visual display in a manner indicative of an environmental system of the refrigerator.
 2. The refrigerator of claim 1 wherein the compartment is a refrigerator compartment.
 3. The refrigerator of claim 1 wherein the compartment is a freezer compartment.
 4. The refrigerator of claim 1 wherein the visual display comprises a plurality of lights.
 5. The refrigerator of claim 4 wherein the lights are multi-color lights.
 6. The refrigerator of claim 5 wherein the circuit is further configured to use colors for the multi-color lights based on user selectable settings.
 7. The refrigerator of claim 4 wherein the circuit is further configured to sequence operation of the plurality of lights to perform an animation
 8. The refrigerator of claim 4 wherein each of the plurality of lights comprises an LED.
 9. The refrigerator of claim 1 wherein the manner indicative of the environmental system of the refrigerator provides a visualization of air flow within the compartment.
 10. The refrigerator of claim 9 wherein the visual display comprises a plurality of lights and wherein the visualization provides for sequencing activation of the plurality of lights to show direction of air flow.
 11. The refrigerator of claim 10 wherein the visualization provides for lighting arrows to show a perceived direction of air flow.
 12. The refrigerator of claim 1 wherein the visual display is positioned at an air tower within the compartment.
 13. The refrigerator of claim 1 wherein the visual display is a display unit configured to display an animation.
 14. A refrigerator comprising: a refrigerator cabinet; a compartment disposed within the refrigerator cabinet; a display disposed along a wall of the compartment; an intelligent control operatively connected to the display and configured to display an animation on the display indicative of a cooling system of the refrigerator.
 15. The refrigerator of claim 14 wherein the compartment is a refrigerator compartment.
 16. The refrigerator of claim 14 wherein the compartment is a freezer compartment.
 17. The refrigerator of claim 14 further comprising a machine readable storage medium operatively connected to the intelligent control, the animation stored on the machine readable storage medium
 18. The refrigerator of claim 14 further comprising user controls operatively connected to the intelligent control and wherein the intelligent control is configured to select settings for the animation based on user input received through the user controls.
 19. The refrigerator of claim 18 wherein the settings include a selection of the animation from a plurality of animations.
 20. A method comprising: providing a refrigerator comprising (a) a refrigerator cabinet, (b) a compartment disposed within the refrigerator cabinet, (c) a visual display disposed along a wall of the compartment, (d) a circuit operatively connected to the visual display and configured to operate the visual display to show a representation of operation of an environmental system of the refrigerator; displaying using the visual display the representation of the operation of the environmental system of the refrigerator.
 21. An appliance comprising: a housing; a compartment disposed within the housing; a visual display positioned at an interior of the compartment or on an exterior surface of the housing; a circuit operatively connected to the visual display and configured to operate the visual display in a manner to provide an animation wherein the animation is indicative of an environmental system of the appliance. 